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Home > Resources > Library and Links > Online Postings & Articles > Conducting Office Hours

Conducting Office Hours

Who comes to office hours?

The apple polishers? The ones making a last ditch effort in the class? The angry students who have a beef about the grade they received on the last exam? Many GTFs say hardly anyone comes.

Who comes to your office hours and how worthwhile the experience depends on your attitude towards your class and your teaching responsibilities. Office hours provide a unique, private, individual conference time for you and your students is an ideal way to work with small groups. Students will use this opportunity if they feel encouraged to come, and if they feel the time is well spent.

Most instructors allot two to four hours a week to office hours. If possible, spread the time and days out to accommodate the variety of class schedules in your group. Always be there on time. Nothing is more frustrating for a student who has made the effort to seek help, than to find you unavailable at your scheduled office hour.

Consider scheduling a 10-15 minute introductory office hour appointment with every student at the beginning of the term. Do this after the first assignment has been turned in and you have some knowledge of their performance level. Getting everyone through the door once and making it a positive experience for them might increase the chances of repeat visits. With very large classes you might have them come in small groups of three or four students.

Giving undivided attention to students can have an amazing impact. Using a student's name and expressing an interest in him or her and how things are going lets students know you care. If you're using this conference to give feedback on an assignment, go easy on the criticism and corrections. Reassure the student that this was an assignment to give you some idea of each student's starting place. Make all the positive comments you can about the student's work and focus on your willingness to work with the student as much as you can. For students who seem to be struggling, this is a good time to make a referral to the tutoring services and math and writing labs in The Teaching and Learning Center (68 PLC).